Nanomechanical sensor applied to blood culture pellets: a fast approach to determine the antibiotic susceptibility against agents of bloodstream infections
Objectives: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are a continuously increasing threat for medicine, caus-ing infections recalcitrant to antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were identified as alternatives to antibiotics, being naturally occurring short ...
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are host-encoded antibiotics that combat invading microbes. These short immune effectors are conserved in plants, animals, and fungi. Early work showed that AMPs killed bacteria in generalist fashions in vitro: i.e. AMPs that ...
Bacterial communities form biofilms on various surfaces by synthesizing a cohesive and protective extracellular matrix, and these biofilms protect microorganisms against harsh environmental conditions. Bacillus subtilis is a widely used experimental specie ...
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is initiated by the inhalation and implantation of bacteria in the lung alveoli, where they are phagocytosed by macrophages. Even a single bacterium may be sufficient to initiate infection. Thereafter, the clinical outc ...
Horizontal gene transfer can trigger rapid shifts in bacterial evolution. Driven by a variety of mobile genetic elements—in particular bacteriophages and plasmids—the ability to share genes within and across species underpins the exceptional adaptability o ...
Ozonation has been applied in water treatment for more than a century, first for disinfection, later for oxidation of inorganic and organic pollutants. In recent years, ozone has been increasingly applied for enhanced municipal wastewater treatment for eco ...
Bacteria are ubiquitously found in all sorts of environment. They're found in the ocean, soil, or even in our guts or on our skin. Independently of their niche, they can transition from a planktonic state were they freely swim in an aqueous environment to ...
Cecropins are small helical secreted peptides with antimicrobial activity that are widely distributed among insects. Genes encoding Cecropins are strongly induced upon infection, pointing to their role in host defense. In Drosophila, four cecropin genes cl ...